I pulled out my bister powders the other day; they were kind of pushed to the back of the watercolour shelf. They turned out to be a perfect match for this ‘roses all over’ stamp from My Favorite Things. Bister (and brusho and colorburst) does wonderful things when sprinkled over embossing because the powder gets trapped inside the ‘walls’ of embossing and keeps colours and shades separate. If you are not familiar with bister, you can read about it here. The colours are earthier than brusho and colorburst which is nice for a change.

Believe it or not this panel is painted with just red bister; all that lovely variety is from one colour. I embossed the watercolour panel with platinum embossing powder then sprinkled the red bister over it and spritzed with water. I watched to see if sections were filling with colour before spritzing or sprinkling a second time. Once there was enough powder I used a paint brush in just a few places to blend or spread the colour. I did not have to do much with the brush because MAGIC.

I found a cardstock that co-ordinated to mat the panel and create a banner for the sentiment. The banner die is from the PB ‘shades’ set and the sentiment embossed in platinum is from the PB ‘banner sentiments’ set.

It’s been all about the colorburst and brusho powders with me lately so I thought it was past time to share the other watercolour powder in my life, bister. The concept is the same with bister; you add water and colour bursts out. The colours in the bister range are more earthy than the other brands and the crystals are, on the whole, coarser. The effects are just as magical as you can see on this panel.

I think this panel is from my initial experimenting with watercolour powders. I really liked how the colours moved on the cold pressed watercolour paper but for a long time I didn’t have a plan for the abstract panel. Eventually I realised it didn’t need a plan; it was a stand alone! I added a sentiment and popped up the panel on foam to give it a ‘shadow frame’ and that is the card. This panel shows the versatility of watercolour powders quite well. By varying the amount of water added you can get small intensely coloured shapes which I think look a bit like mosaics, you can get soft washes and some patterning in between the two extremes.

Here is the final instalment in my Stamping the Seasons collection. Although I have added a few extra stamps here and there each design features the tree and twig stamps from the ‘Joy to All’ set.

The earthy tones of my bister powders were perfect for an autumn scene so I began by painting a green and blue sky then painted the brown and red landscape below. While the brown area was stil wet I stamped the twig stamp in three colours of brown over and over filling the foreground with both blurred images and later sharper ones. I positioned the tree on the left this time and bent the trunk a little on the acrylic block. To create leaves I sprinkled bister over the branches and under the tree then added water to activate it.

I didn’t set out to make these four cards so similar in layout and but it has been a interesting challenge to change the colour scheme each time to convey the feeling of each season. I did a similar thing a few years back using the Berry Branch stamp from Penny Black. (Spring & Summer, Fall & Winter, Winter tutorial)

Stamps that can be used all year round are winners in my opinion and I am always happy to see new tree stamps to use in my stamped landscapes. The ‘Joy to All‘ set contains a tree and some twiggy foliage stamps that I will be using winter, spring, summer and fall. This week and next you can see the Penny Black design team using new products to ‘stamp the seasons‘.

To create today’s wintry scene I splattered some masking fluid over the watercolour panel, let it dry then taped the panel to a firm surface to prevent warping. I used blue bister powder to paint the sky and snow banks then added the background trees in memento nautical blue ink while the sky was still damp. I stamped the tree from Joy to all in black ink then added shadows for all the trees in blue ink. To finish the scene I stamped the twig stamps from the same set in the foreground in black. Once all the ink was dry I removed the masking fluid then chose one of my favourite sentiments from the new release and a narrow black mat to frame the panel.

If you come back tomorrow you will see my spring scene using the same ‘Joy to All’ set.

If your creating goes anything like mine you probably end up with multiple experiments scattered across your work space. After playing with bister, the green, blue and yellow powders in particular, I ended up with three extra panels, some dark, some light. The patterns and colours just called out to be made into a landscape using the new triple tree die from Penny Black. The die is called ‘in the winter’ but I know it is going to be handy all year round. I die cut the same hillside of trees from each panel then snipped off the trees I didn’t need so I could have the distant trees peeping out between the mid ground trees. I painted a new panel for the sky using just blue bister which I diluted so the trees would stand out against it.

Now that I have used up those stray scraps of bistered beauty; it’s time to play with some brusho. Stay tuned.

Here are the warm toned leaves I promised in contrast to the cool toned ones I posted a few days ago. Ottawa is enjoying fabulous colours this year; the yellows appeared first but now the orange and reds have joined in and they really are amazing.

Today’s loose and somewhat messy card reminds me of a leaf pile; we have had some pretty impressive ones over the years. Once again I created my panel in a couple of layers, starting with some orange toned leaves stamped onto wet watercolour paper. The leaf images bled in all directions creating the blurry shapes you see in the background. When they were dry I stamped with reds and browns and used a brush to fill in the leaves. I also sprinkled brown bister which ended up separating into black and brown with a few red and blue spots as well. When it was all dry I splattered some gold dots over the panel with a wink of luna pen. To complete the card I cut the ‘thank you’ sentiment out of both the panel and a piece of red cardstock so I could do an inlay to match the mat.

As you can see I haven’t put away the Filigree Foliage set. This time I didn’t paint out the filigree pattern as I have on previous cards; I kept it for a more decorative look. These colours reflect what is in my yard right now. There are plenty of yellow leaves floating down but the deep red ones are holding back.

I created this panel in layers starting by wetting the paper and stamping a few green leaves which then blended into the background laying down colour without leaving distinct shapes. When that had dried a little I stamped again in greens and mustard, spritzed some more water and also sprinkled some bister powder. Finally I stamped with water to create a few very pale impressions which picked up some of the bister lying around. I realise some of my stamped images are incomplete, some are distinct, others are blurred which is not everyone’s preference. I like to let the water and inks bleed and blend a little for some unique effects.

I’ll be back soon with some warm toned leaves. Thanks for dropping by.